Concern in Labuan over child Covid-19 cases

Children below the age of 12 are starting to form a large proportion of Covid-19 cases in Labuan, says its health department director, Dr Ismuni Bohari.

He said as of Feb 27, a total of 54 children below the age of 12 had been infected with Covid-19 while another 219 cases involve those above the age of 13 who have not yet fully recovered.

“Currently, we have 10 children aged 12 and below, with five each admitted to the hospital and Covid-19 quarantine and low-risk treatment centre respectively.

“The remaining 44 are undergoing home quarantine, and these children are classified under Category Two of Covid-19,” he said to Bernama today.

Ismuni said his team viewed the number of infections involving children seriously, as the number of such cases had risen steadily over the last week.

“There were 82 new cases involving children aged 12 and below reported on Feb 23. This declined to 65 cases on Feb 26 and 54 as of yesterday, but we cannot predict (the trend) for the next few days,” he said.

Ismuni also said that the number of children aged five to 11 receiving the vaccine under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) had yet to exceed the target since its launch on Feb 7.

“We expect to run PICKids for a month (from Feb 7), but the number of children who have received their first dose has yet to exceed 50% of the total target of 11,700,” he said.

He said only 23.94%, or 2,801 children, have so far received a jab at the four vaccination centres at Labuan Hospital, Kompleks Darul Kifayah hall, SK Pekan 2 and SK Sungai Lada.

Labuan has recorded new cases in the three-digit figures for the past week, with 311 cases on Feb 27 and two being treated in the ICU.